December is bound to be a pretty exciting 4 weeks for us Kladders. In addition to all the Christmas and New Year celebration, this month we're moving into our new house and shortly after we'll find out if we're having a boy or girl - just in time for paint color choices. If there was ever a time in my life I felt like an adult, it's now. But the funny thing is, I still feel like the same person I was when I moved to Grand Rapids nearly 5 years ago - only now with a mortgage, way nicer bed linens, and a growing family of my own.
On the 20th we'll move home base from downtown Grand Rapids to Rosewood Ave, a great street on the boarder of East Grand Rapids and Eastown. It's a 4 bedroom (one is actually more of an office), 1 and a half bath, two-story just walking distance from Wilcox Park, Aquinas College, Gaslight Village, and the awesomeness that is Eastown. I've already been warned to register for a stroller with suspension as the sidewalks are full of character and could use some forgiveness. We foresee many Harmony Brewing pizzas, drinks on Roses deck, and bike rides around Reeds Lake in our future.
As for keeping only one car, we're pretty confident that considering the close proximity of both our offices to our new home address, we'll still be able to make having one car work. Jeff will commute downtown either using our car or bus (which runs right near our new house) and I will do my best to walk or bike to my office on Cherry Street in East Hills. We'll see how my tolerance for the cold and snow holds up as we head into these next couple of months of winter, but I'm certain my rides in the summer will be a welcomed 10 minutes now that I'll no longer be biking uphill from downtown.
And so, over the next couple weeks the loft is getting packed into boxes as my belly continues to round itself out. We're sad to leave our nest downtown, but excited for neighbors, our own driveway/garage, grilling out with friends on our back patio, and most importantly... glad we won't have to raise our new kid in a loft apartment!